I’m the idiot who has spent roughly $1,200 of my own money on Gimkit Pro since 2019. Not school money, not grant money—my actual paycheck. Every August, I click “renew” faster than I pay my car insurance because I already know I’ll make that money back in sanity and weekends saved by October.
Here’s the real breakdown, no affiliate links, no corporate talking points, just what actually matters when you’re standing in front of thirty teenagers who can smell fear.
The Free Version Is Still Insanely Good (don’t let anyone tell you otherwise)
If you only use the free version, you’re already ahead of 90% of teachers who use edtech. Seriously.
With free, you get:
- Unlimited live games
- Classic, Trust No One, Boss Battle, Humans vs Zombies, Floor Is Lava — all the good modes.
- Up to 300 students per game (I’ve hit 298 before with zero lag)
- Full shop and power-ups
- Homework mode with cash or time goals
- Basic reports
I taught entire semesters for free only during 2020-2021, and my kids never knew the difference. They still screamed, still begged for one more round, still learned. Free Gimkit is like driving a fully loaded Honda Civic—plenty fast, reliable, and nobody’s mad.
Pro is a Tesla in sport mode. You don’t need it, but once you’ve felt the acceleration, you’ll never go back.
Where Pro Actually Pays for Itself (the features that made me open my wallet without hesitation)
- Unlimited Kits in Your Library (Free caps you at 5 active kits)
I currently have 84 kits in my library. Eighty-four.
Every unit, every level, every random Tuesday review lives there forever. Deleting kits to stay under the free limit used to make me want to cry. Now I never think about it. - Folders and Subfolders
My library looks like this:
Spanish 1 → Unit 1 → Present Tense
Spanish 1 → Unit 1 → Question Bank (312 questions)
Spanish 2 → Survival Phrases → Airport + Hotel
AP Spanish → Literature → Don Quijote quotes
Free users can’t do this. You’re stuck with one giant list. After about kit #6, it becomes unusable. - Kit Collaborator Links
My department shares one Pro account. I built the master kit, sent the link to the other three Spanish teachers, and every edit any of us makes shows up instantly for everyone. We haven’t had a “who has the newest version” email chain in four years. - Import/Export Questions (CSV)
This is the feature that single-handedly justifies the entire subscription.
I can export my entire present-tense kit, run it through a translation sheet, and have a perfect Korean version in twelve minutes for our ELL teacher. I can take last year’s final exam, export it, import it into Gimkit, and have a review game ready before the bell rings. - Custom Backgrounds and Thumbnails
Petty, but it matters. My “Present Tense Verbs” kit has a thumbnail of a kid crying while holding a conjugation chart. My students see it on the join screen and literally run to their seats. Free only gives you like six stock images. - Advanced Reports – Per Question, Per Student, Heatmaps
Free gives you a basic bar graph. Pro gives you a spreadsheet that will make data nerds weep. I can see that 70% of my Spanish 2 class still confuses ser and estar in medical contexts, and I need to fix it before it metastasizes. - No “Gimkit Basic” Watermark on Assignments
Tiny thing, huge psychological difference. When kids open homework, and it says “Gimkit Basic,” they subconsciously think it’s less serious. Pro removes it. They take it more seriously. I have data. - Priority Support
I once emailed support at 10:17 p.m. on a Thursday because a kit disappeared. I had a reply from Josh (actual human, actual Gimkit employee) by 10:24 p.m., and my kit was restored by 10:31. Free users wait days.
The Features That Sound Sexy But Aren’t Worth the Upgrade Alone
- More than 5 assignments at a time — I rarely have more than 3 active anyway.
- Audio questions over 10 seconds — I keep mine under 8 anyway.
- Custom game codes — cute, but kids just use the link.
- Unlimited images per question — I never need more than one.
If those are your main reasons, stay free forever.
The Real Cost Breakdown (as of 2025 pricing)
Gimkit Pro yearly: $179.88 (or $14.99/month if you’re scared of commitment)
That’s $0.49 per school day.
Less than one Starbucks oat milk latte per week.
I spend more than that on dry-erase markers that disappear into the void.
Who Should Stay Free Forever
- First-year teachers
- Anyone teaching fewer than three preps
- Middle school teachers who only need 15 kits total
- Anyone whose district blocks outside payments (looking at you, certain counties in Texas)
You’re not missing anything critical.
Who Should Upgrade Tomorrow and Never Look Back
- Department chairs
- Anyone teaching multiple levels of the same subject (Spanish 1, 2, 3, AP)
- World language teachers (the import/export feature is basically cheating)
- AP/IB teachers who need stimulus-based questions and perfect alignment
- Teachers who have ever cried while deleting an old kit to make room for a new one
The Verdict From Someone Who’s Lived Both Lives
Free Gimkit is an A.
Pro is an A+ with extra credit and a glitter pen.
I will never teach another year without Pro because the time it saves me—planning, grading, updating, collaborating—is worth way more than $180. My weekends are mine again. My kits are immortal. My department actually shares resources without a single Google Drive link rotting in someone’s inbox.
But if you’re still on the fence, do this: use it for free for the rest of this quarter. Track how many times you think “God, I wish I had folders” or “I have to delete something to make this new kit.”
When that number hits ten, upgrade.
You’ll click renew every August for the rest of your career and never regret a single penny.
I haven’t.